They're Back - Conditioned Response

I posted this once back about this time last year, but with all the recent talk of conditioned responses I thought I'd bring it up again. I'm referring to the bass that live around the marina on one of the lakes I regularly fish. These fish get fed at least twice a day by the operators of the bait house. All the dead minnows that either didn't survive overnight or those that die during the course of the day get collected in a pail and fed to the wolves. You can click on all the pics to make them larger for better discrimination. Those are a bucket full of dead minnows about to be sacrificed on the left.

Here is a shot of one of the lurking bass I took today that is just cruising below the surface and checking things out. Notice all the live shad swimming around in the pic above him. They don't attack these shad, at least not that we've ever seen. Instead they wait for the dead minnows to be fed to them. This might also speak to the principle of OFT or Optimal Foraging Theory. You can find a big write up on that in the archives under 'Not Another Juicy Steak Story'. Hard to say how long you'd have to fish using dead minnnows "in the wild" before you caught a bass.

Here is a shot of one of the bass blasting on a dead minnow just floating on the surface. It is not unsual to get as many as 8 or 10 bass feeding in the morning on the free food. They'll actually start cruising up and down the boardwalk once they know you are there, waiting for the food to be dropped in. The attacks can be pretty violent, to the point of splashing people on the edge of the walk observing the feeding frenzy. Again in this shot notice all the shad cruising by in the lower 1/3 of the picture while the bass is well off the walkway feasting on a dead, floating minnow. These aren't little bass either. these fish range from 2-4 pounds in most cases, and we occasionally see one larger. Last year there was even a giant crappie that hung with the bass for a good part of the year and got in on the feeding.

Comments

[paul roberts]

Prey is hard to catch. Mature bass have learned this.

Bass wait for opportunities.

[Richard Ziert]

Paul, Something else to consider. Metabolism.

Prolonged chasing increases metabolism. Over time, if prey is not captured to fuel that increased metabolism, the predator overheats and dies. That and only that creates the need for easy meals. That is also why the plastic worm or other slow bait is by far the best to use overall.

[Rick]

Interesting observation. We have a similar situation here on Lake Erie every summer. The May Fly hatch has just about every species homed in on one particular food source. Often the fish will ignore all other offerings. They either slurp the surface bugs, or get them as they hatch.

[Big Indiana Bass]

I understand Paul. I just find it interesting that these bass will pass on all the shad cruising by constantly right in front of their faces and instead swim past them out into open water to eat the dead floaters. That OFT thing at work again, and better to take the sure thing I guess.